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At $122.07, Is Proofpoint Inc (NASDAQ:PFPT) A Buy?

Proofpoint Inc (NASDAQ:PFPT), a software company based in United States, saw a significant share price rise of over 20% in the past couple of months on the NasdaqGM. As a mid-cap stock with high coverage by analysts, you could assume any recent changes in the company’s outlook is already priced into the stock. However, what if the stock is still a bargain? Today I will analyse the most recent data on Proofpoint’s outlook and valuation to see if the opportunity still exists. See our latest analysis for Proofpoint

What’s the opportunity in Proofpoint?

The stock is currently trading at US$122.07 on the share market, which means it is overvalued by 24% compared to my intrinsic value of $98.07. This means that the buying opportunity has probably disappeared for now. But, is there another opportunity to buy low in the future? Since Proofpoint’s share price is quite volatile, this could mean it can sink lower (or rise even further) in the future, giving us another chance to invest. This is based on its high beta, which is a good indicator for how much the stock moves relative to the rest of the market.

What kind of growth will Proofpoint generate?

Future outlook is an important aspect when you’re looking at buying a stock, especially if you are an investor looking for growth in your portfolio. Buying a great company with a robust outlook at a cheap price is always a good investment, so let’s also take a look at the company’s future expectations. Though in the case of Proofpoint, it is expected to deliver a highly negative earnings growth in the next few years, which doesn’t help build up its investment thesis. It appears that risk of future uncertainty is high, at least in the near term.

What this means for you:

Are you a shareholder? If you believe PFPT is currently trading above its value, selling high and buying it back up again when its price falls towards its real value can be profitable. Given the risk from a negative growth outlook, this could be the right time to de-risk your portfolio. But before you make this decision, take a look at whether its fundamentals have changed.

Are you a potential investor? If you’ve been keeping an eye on PFPT for a while, now may not be the best time to enter into the stock. Price climbed passed its true value, in addition to a risky future outlook. However, there are also other important factors which we haven’t considered today, such as the track record of its management. Should the price fall in the future, will you be well-informed enough to buy?

To help readers see pass the short term volatility of the financial market, we aim to bring you a long-term focused research analysis purely driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis does not factor in the latest price sensitive company announcements.

The author is an independent contributor and at the time of publication had no position in the stocks mentioned.